The city of Chattanooga’s Curbside Recycling initiative has made progress over the last year and as of today, the city has made curbside recycling more convenient and accessible by providing almost 20,000 recycling carts to residents throughout Chattanooga, said officials. The city has increased participation in the curbside recycling initiative by over 26 percent and increased the amount of collected tonnage by 18 percent.
Previously, curbside recycling was collected by hand. With the new 96-gallon recycling carts, the city is able to use trucks with mechanical arms to maximize efficiency and reduce costs. To make this change successful, officials said participants should make these adjustments to the way they set out recyclables:
Close the lid: Materials should fit inside the recycling cart with the lid closed. That means bulky cardboard should be broken down. If it still doesn’t fit in the cart, customers can still take those bulky items to one of the five Recycle Centers.
No more bags: Trucks with mechanical arms are efficient and cost effective. Unfortunately, they only work with recycling carts and cannot pick up bags or recyclables left outside of the cart.
Wheels to the curb: To prevent damage to a cart, make sure the wheels of the cart are against the curb and the lid opens toward the street.
Know before you throw: Only recycle clean, acceptable materials to reduce contamination. Non-recyclables such as bathroom and kitchen waste, food, Styrofoam, organic trash, and bulky trash should not be placed in the recycling cart. The Curbside Recycling Initiative accepts aluminum, cardboard, glass (bottles and cans only), mixed paper, newspaper, plastics stamped 1-7, and steel cans. All of these items can be thrown into one bin without pre-sorting.
In addition to the city’s Curbside Recycling collection, there are a number of other ways to recycle items not collected from the curb. Recycle organic material such as brush, leaves, and yard trash through curbside brush collection or the wood recycling center. Appliances such as washers, refrigerators, ovens, grills, and other metals such as bed frames or scrap metal are recycled through curbside trash flash service or may be dropped off at any of the refuse collection centers.
The household hazardous waste collection center operates on the second Saturday of each month and collects propane tanks, computers, fluorescent bulbs, batteries, and many other items which are recycled or otherwise properly disposed of to minimize the environmental impacts. Many other items are recyclable at various facilities.
To sign up for the city’s Curbside Recycling initiative dial 3-1-1 (643-6311) or sign up online.
Follow on Facebook at Chattanooga Recycles and Twitter @ChattRecycles.